Fly-tippers strike every 35 seconds

Rubbish is illegally dumped somewhere in England every 35 seconds, according to figures published today.

Authorities are spending almost ?100 a minute to clear the dumped waste, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Environment Minister Elliot Morley said that almost 250,000 black bags were illegally dumped every year, each one costing ?40 to clear. "That is about ?10million that local authorities could be spending on preventing fly-tipping and improving their neighbourhoods," he said. Councils and the Environment Agency were using Flycapture, a database of fly-tipping incidents, to help target the problem.